Jimmie Johnson Encouraged By 14th-Place Qualifying Effort At Chicago
Column By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR – JOLIET, IL – Jimmie Johnson will start what he hopes is a run to his eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship from the 14th position on the grid in Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Believe it or not, that’s an improvement over Johnson’s 17.4 average starting spot in the 26-race regular season. Johnson hasn’t won a pole this season, and if he fails to do so in the 10-race Playoff, it will mark only the second time in his career the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet has failed to claim at least one Coors Light Pole Award, the other being 2011, when he also won a career-low two races.
But Johnson is a glass-half-full kind of guy, and he knows no other team has approached the level of the No. 48 on the tracks that comprise the Playoffs. Accordingly, though starting 14th isn’t ideal, Johnson views it as a step forward.
“Of course, we want to be better,” Johnson said. “But it’s a step in the right direction. Starting on the seventh row is a lot better than where we’ve started recently. If we can move forward like we typically do in the race and get up in the top 10 or top 5, it can completely change the outcome of the race and get momentum going the right way for us.
“We’re digging deep. I think we’ve improved some. And it’s playoff time, and the weather is cooling down and fall is here—so it’s time for the No. 48 to get hot.”
Perhaps so, but after posting the 18th-fastest time in Saturday morning’s first practice session, Johnson had to cool his heels on pit road for the first 30 minutes of Happy Hour because the No. 48 Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection twice both at Richmond (last week) and Chicagoland. After spending 30 minutes in the pit road penalty box, Jimmie Johnson was 24th fastest in Happy Hour.
If he’s to advance through the field as planned and start the Playoffs on a positive note, he’ll have to find more speed on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, one of three active tracks where the seven-time champion has never won.
KESELOWSKI IS SALESMAN OF THE MONTH—FOR RIVAL BRAND?
If the war of words is any indication, the advent of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs brings out the persnickety side of the drivers involved.
In a Friday tweet, Brad Keselowski bemoaned what he perceives as Toyota’s performance advantage over the Fords and Chevrolets in the field. That earned the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford a lot of return fire from the Toyota camp. After qualifying second to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, Toyota driver Denny Hamlin couldn’t resist a foray into the fray.
“I’d like to know what Toyota is paying Brad, because he is their best spokesman,” Hamlin quipped. “I need more money for my PSA. If you’re shopping for a midsize sedan, get the unfair advantage – get a Toyota.”
Indeed, Camry drivers led both Saturday practices, with Martin Truex Jr. topping the morning session and Kyle Busch recording the fastest lap in Happy Hour. But there was a good mix of car makers on the speed chart.
Ford driver Ryan Blaney was second in Saturday’s first session, and Chevy driver Chase Elliott was third. In final practice, Chevy driver Austin Dillon was second to Busch, with Keselowski in third.
DALE EARNHARDT JR. THINKS HE’S LEAVING NASCAR RACING IN GOOD HANDS
There’s no debating that the highest level of NASCAR racing is witnessing a changing of the guard.
Jeff Gordon retired from full-time racing at the end of the 2015 season. Tony Stewart followed a year later. Earnhardt is playing out his final year in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Danica Patrick has announced she won’t return to Stewart-Haas Racing next year. And veterans Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne are out of their current rides, with no concrete plans to announce yet for 2018.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is short on star power. With neophytes Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon and Erik Jones leading a parade of talented 20-somethings, Earnhardt believes he’s leading the competition in firm hands.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Earnhardt affirmed. “I think that these young guys are really crafty with social media and I think that’s a great direction for them to interact with not only current fans, but to find new fans. I think they do a great job at that.
“I had to learn what Twitter was and how to use it. These guys grew up in this generation, and they are sort of already masters of it. There’s a lot of great things going on on Instagram and Twitter, and I think that there’s a lot of opportunity there to capture an audience and make new fans and create new fans.”
Earnhardt also believes the drivers who will carry the sport for the next generation must accept the necessity of outreach—even if it’s an inconvenience.
“They need to push themselves, which is hard to do. I didn’t want to do any of this when I was young. But when NASCAR says we need somebody in New York to do morning shows this week to promote the playoffs, these guys need to jump on that wagon and go.
“It’s not a ton of fun, but once you’re in the middle of it, doing it, it’s really enjoyable meeting these people and these personalities and making these connections and networking with these people.”
